Chapter 8

Dr. Bennett and Eliza R. Snow

It has been shown that polygamy did not enter the Church through
the Prophet Joseph Smith's teachings, but through other avenues.
One of the most devastating roads was the one paved by Doctor
Bennett. There is evidence that Bennett seduced Eliza R. Snow
and caused her to conceive a child during the Nauvoo period. There
is also evidence that because Joseph and Emma Smith both felt
that Eliza was a victim of Bennett's deceit, they shielded her
from disgrace.

However, after becoming one of
Brigham Young's many wives, Eliza allowed the rumor to spread
in Utah that she had been a plural wife of Joseph the Prophet
and had become pregnant with his child. Brigham sorely needed
this type of rumor to be circulated in order to attach Joseph's
name to the doctrine, and justify his own plural marriages and
those of other church leaders. Therefore, the church officials,
which included members of the Snow family (in both the presidency
and the historical department), promoted this new rumor with such
vigor in Utah that one hardly dared mention that President Brigham
Young's wife, Eliza, had apparently been romantically linked with
Doctor Bennett.

In order to piece together the account of what really happened
at Nauvoo, it is necessary to give more of Dr. Bennett's background:

John Cook Bennett was born in Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts,
August 4, 1804.... In 1808 he moved with his parents to Ohio.
There ... he acquired a knowledge of the classical languages
and excelled especially in mathematics. Thereafter he was trained
for the practice of medicine under Dr. Samuel Hildreth, a prominentphysician of Marietta, Ohio.... He had a marked interest
in founding colleges and universities and promoted the formation
of such institutions in West Virginia, Indiana and Ohio. The
last institution he was successful in organizing in Ohio was
the medical school of Willoughby University, located only four
miles from Kirtland. He was first dean of that college and at
the same time professor of Gynecology and the diseases of children.
At Willoughby he became acquainted with the Mormon leaders and
knew Sidney Rigdon very well as he was for a time a licensed
preacher in the Christian sect along with Rigdon. He moved to
Illinois in 1838.... He soon won appointment as brigadier general
of the Illinois Invincible Dragoons. In 1840 he was made Quartermaster
General [of the state militia] of Illinois by Governor Carlin.
That same year he joined the Mormon church at Nauvoo in which
he had a meteoric career, within eighteen months attaining popularity
and power second only to that of Joseph Smith. In addition to
his positions of mayor of Nauvoo and "acting counselor"
in the First Presidency of the church, he was made Chancellor
of the University of Nauvoo, [and] did an excellent job of organizing
and training the Nauvoo Legion.(Ralph V. Chamberlin,
The University of Utah: A History of Its
First Hundred Years, 577–578)

The Church headquarters was at Kirtland from 1831 to 1837, which
was only four miles from where the doctor lived while in his twenties.
Being a medical doctor and a fellow preacher with Sidney Rigdon
in the Disciples of Christ Church (Campbellite), he had ample
opportunity to hear and accept the gospel. But he chose not to
join at that time.

Since he was Sidney Rigdon's close friend and fellow churchman,
he was well-known in the five congregations over which Rigdon
presided at the time Sidney heard and obeyed the gospel. No doubt
Bennett was also well acquainted with many of Rigdon's followers
who were baptized into the Church led by Joseph Smith, including
Parley P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, Lyman Wight, Newell K. Whitney, and
Isaac Morley. All of these last-named later became polygamists.

Bennett also knew the family of Oliver Snow, which included
his poetic and scholarly daughter, Eliza—who was already
noted for her writing ability. Bennett and Eliza Snow had many
things in common at Kirtland—they were the same age, both
teachers, intellectual, widely read, writers, liked poetry, and
both were interested in the war between Greece and Turkey which
occurred while the Church headquarters was at Kirtland. Eliza,
using the pen name Narcissa, wrote
a poem about the war, which was published in the Ravenna Courier.
Dr. Bennett, who "acquired a knowledge of the classical
languages," studied the Turkish practice of polygamy, for
he mentioned it in his book, along with the polygamy practiced
by Oriental and African rulers (see Bennett, History
of the Saints, 218–219). His discussion of polygamous
rulers and harems in his book demonstrates that he had more than
an ordinary interest in the subject, and an extensive knowledge
of it being practiced in various places.

When Doctor Bennett arrived in Nauvoo, he claimed to accept
the gospel and was baptized by Joseph. Housing was scarce when
he arrived, so he roomed for thirty-nine weeks (nine months) with
Joseph and Emma and their children in the tiny log cabin with
only three rooms, known as the Homestead. The account book for
Joseph Smith's store shows that John C. Bennett owed Joseph $117
for thirty-nine weeks of board at a charge of three dollars a
week (see Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store
Daybook [December 8, 1843], account number 59).

Joseph Smith III had some vivid memories of Dr. Bennett. He
recalled:

While Doctor Bennett was boarding at our house every effort
was made for his comfort, however. Mother would set a loaf of
bread down in front of the wood fire until its end would be
toasted a pleasing brown. Then she would slice that part off,
thinly, and replace the loaf before the fire. In this manner
she would get a goodly supply ready for his supper of browned
bread and milk, prepared just as he liked it. (Saints'
Herald 82 [January 8, 1935]: 49)

At the time Bennett came to Nauvoo, he had a wife and children
in the East, but he posed as a single man. Immediately after arriving
in August of 1840, he was dating a young woman in Nauvoo, whom
he seduced. Joseph published on June 24, 1842, that "more
than twenty months ago [September or October 1840] Bennett went
to a lady in the city and began to teach her that promiscuous
intercourse between the sexes was lawful and no harm in it"
(LDS History of the Church 5:42–43).
This act, along with other incidents of immorality, made it necessary
to expel him from the Church in May 1842.

Joseph Described Bennett's Adulterous Activities

Joseph published:

It becomes my duty to lay before the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints, and the public generally, some important
facts relative to the conduct and character of DR. JOHN C. BENNETT,
who has lately been expelled from the aforesaid church; that
the honorable part of [the] community may be aware of his proceedings,
and be ready to treat him and regard him as he ought to be regarded,
viz: as an imposter and base adulterer.

It is a matter of notoriety that said Dr. J. C. Bennett, became
favorable to the doctrines taught by the elders of the church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and located himself in
the city of Nauvoo, about the month of August 1840, and soon
after joined the church.... He had not been long in Nauvoo before
he began to keep company with a young lady, one of our citizens;
and she being ignorant of his having a wife living, gave way
to his addresses, and became confident, from his behavior towards
her, that he intended to marry her; and this he gave her to
understand he would do. I, seeing the folly of such an acquaintance,
persuaded him to desist; and, on account of his continuing his
course, finally threatened to expose him if he did not desist.
This, to outward appearance, had the desired effect, and the
acquaintance between them was broken off.

But, like one of the most abominable and depraved beings which
could possibly exist, he only broke off his publicly wicked
actions, to sink deeper into iniquity and hypocrisy [by continuing
to date her secretly]. When he saw that I would not submit to
any such conduct, he went to some of the females in the city,
who knew nothing of him but as an honorable man, &
began to teach them that promiscuous intercourse between the
sexes was a doctrine believed in by the Latter-Day Saints, and
that there was no harm in it; but this failing, he had
recourse to a more influential and desperately wicked course;
and that was, to persuade them that myself and others of theauthorities of thechurch not only sanctioned, but
practiced the same wicked acts; and when asked why I publicly
preached so much against it, said that it was because of the
prejudice of the public, and that it would cause trouble in
my own house [with Joseph's wife, Emma]. He was well aware of
the consequence of such wilful and base falsehoods, if they
should come to my knowledge; and consequently endeavored to
persuade his dupes to keep it a matter of secrecy, persuading
them there would be no harm if they should not make it known.
This proceeding on his part, answered the
desired end; he accomplished his wicked purposes; he seduced
an innocent female by his lying, and subjected her character
to public disgrace, should it ever be known.

But his depraved heart would not suffer him to stop here.
Not being contented with having disgraced one female, he made
an attempt upon others; and, by the same plausible tale, overcame
them also; evidently not caring whose character was ruined,
so that his wicked, lustful appetites might be gratified.

Sometime about the early part of July 1841, I received a letter
from Elder H. [Hyrum] Smith and Wm. Law [a member of the First
Presidency], who were then at Pittsburgh, Penn. This letter
was dated June 15th, and contained the particulars of a conversation
betwixt them and a respectable gentleman from the neighborhood
where Bennett's wife and children resided. He stated to them
that it was a fact that Bennett had a wife and children living,
and that she had left him because of his ill-treatment towards
her. This letter was read to Bennett, which he did not attempt
to deny; but candidly acknowledged the fact.

Soon after this information reached our ears, Dr. Bennett
made an attempt at suicide, by taking poison; but he being discovered
before it had taken effect, and the proper antidotes being administered,
he again recovered; but he very much resisted when an attempt
was made to save him. The public impression was, that he was
so much ashamed of his base and wicked conduct, that he had
recourse to the above deed to escape the censures of an indignant
community.

It might have been supposed that these circumstances transpiring
in the manner they did, would have produced a thorough reformation
in his conduct; but, alas! like a being totally destitute of
common decency, and without any government over his passions,
he was soon busily engaged in the same wicked career, and continued
until a knowledge of the same reached my ears. I immediately
charged him with it, and he admitted that it was true; but in
order to put a stop to all such proceedings for the future,
I publicly proclaimed against it, and had
those females notified to appear before the proper [Church]
officers that the whole subject might be investigated
and thoroughly exposed.

During the course of investigation [by Church officials],
the foregoing facts were proved by credible witnesses, and were
sworn and subscribed to before an alderman of the city, on the
15th ult. The documents containing the evidence are now in my
possession. (Times and Seasons 3
[July 1, 1842]: 839–840; RLDS History
of the Church 2:585–587; italics added)

From the above it is seen that Dr. Bennett "seduced an
innocent female by his lying, and subjected her character to public
disgrace, should it ever be known." She was "a young
lady, one of our citizens." He also "went to some of
the [other] females in the city" and "accomplished his
wicked purposes."

Lorenzo Wasson Testified of Bennett's Guilt and
Joseph's Innocence

One of Joseph's primary witnesses to his fidelity and Bennett's
immorality was Emma's nephew, Lorenzo D. Wasson, a son of Emma's
sister, Elizabeth Wasson. Lorenzo joined the Church and lived
with his Aunt Emma and Uncle Joseph, where Bennett also boarded.
During the summer of 1841, Lorenzo was upstairs in Joseph and
Emma's bedroom at the Homestead, and heard Joseph berating Bennett
in the room below. The next summer, on July 30, 1842, while on
a missionary journey, Lorenzo wrote Joseph these words:

Uncle, ... If I can be of any service in this Bennett affair
I am ready. I was reading in your chamber last summer—yourself
and Bennett came into the lower room, and I heard you give J.
C. Bennett a tremendous flagellation for practicing iniquity
under the base pretence of authority from the heads of the church—if
you recollect I came down just before you were through talking.
There are many things I can inform you of, if necessary, in
relation to Bennett and his prostitutes. I am satisfied of your
virtue and integrity. I have been with you to visit the sick,
and time and again to houses where you had business of importance,
you requested me to do so—many times Iknew not
why, but I am satisfied it was that you might not be censured
by those that were watching you with a jealous eye, and I now
solemnly protest before God and man, I never saw a thing unvirtuous
in your conduct.... I am your most obedient nephew, L. D. WASSON. (Times and Seasons 3 [August
15, 1842]: 892)

Lorenzo was Joseph's faithful attendant in life and in death.
In 1843 Joseph was taken prisoner by Sheriff Reynolds of Missouri
at the Wasson home in Dixon, Illinois. Lorenzo and his father's
quick action provided Joseph with attorneys and prevented Joseph
from being taken to Missouri (see Saints'
Herald 82 [January 22, 1935]: 112). It was Lorenzo who
hastened to Nauvoo with a message from Emma, bearing the news
to the Saints of Joseph's arrest. And alas, it was Lorenzo that
Joseph III remembers seeing "covered with dust, bringing
the news" that Joseph and Hyrum had been murdered at Carthage
(ibid. [January 29, 1935]: 143).

After a mock funeral and entombment for Joseph and Hyrum in
June of 1844, Lorenzo and others, carefully chosen by Emma, secretly
buried the bodies of the Martyrs in the basement of the Nauvoo
House (see George Q. Cannon, The Life of
Joseph Smith the Prophet, 529–530). Lorenzo refused
to follow the leadership of Brigham Young.

Who Was the "Young Lady" Whom Bennett
"Disgraced"?

One of the best-kept secrets in the Church is the identity of
the "innocent female" whom Bennett seduced. Joseph revealed
the names of other women who were involved with Bennett, but never
hers. The young lady's name was known, of course, to Church officials
who tried Bennett's case, such as members of the Presidency and
the High Council. Their official investigation of Bennett's immorality
was reported in the Times and Seasons
and the Nauvoo Wasp; yet her identity
was kept secret. Why? Because as Joseph explained, she was "innocent"—she
was looked upon as a victim. This was not the case with President
Sidney Rigdon's daughter, Nancy; Apostle Orson Pratt's wife, Sarah;
and several other women whose names were published (see Affidavits
and Certificates Disproving the Statements and Affidavits Contained
in John C. Bennett's Letters, published at Nauvoo, Illinois,
August 31, 1842). The reason that their names were made public
will be explained in later chapters.

The Snow Family Left Nauvoo Abruptly

Eliza Snow and John Bennett had known each other in Ohio; they
were the same age; and both had good educations and were intellectual,
as previously noted. Now they were in Nauvoo and were close friends
of Joseph and Emma Smith and Sidney and Phebe Rigdon. These facts
show a natural relationship between them. During this time an
incident occurred which angered Eliza's father, Oliver Snow. Historian
and author, Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, has written:

Spring 1842 was a time of great turmoil for the Snow family.
Apostate John C. Bennett was spreading falsehoods, dissension
was breaking out among the Saints, and persecution from nearby
settlers was mounting. For Oliver Snow, it was more trial than
he had faith to match. Purchasing property at Walnut Grove,
a settlement some seventy-five miles east of Nauvoo, he moved
his family there, those who would go. He wrote to his brother
Franklin that "Eliza cannot leave our Prophet. Mother [Rosetta]
did not like to. For my part I am very glad, at present, to
be away. Turmoil and confusion, these stalk abroad at noon day."
(Ensign 9 [June 1980]: 67)

Oliver Snow had endured all kinds of hardships with the Saints
in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Why was the spring of 1842 so
much worse that Oliver decided to leave Nauvoo and the Church?
The spring of 1842 was the time that Joseph brought Dr. Bennett
to trial and exposed those who were involved in his seductive
activities by publishing the information. Did those trials reveal
to Oliver that Dr. Bennett, one of the heads of the Church, had
seduced his daughter, Eliza? Mormon Church authorities insist
that Eliza did become pregnant during the Nauvoo period. This
may have been between the spring of 1841 when the family moved
back to Nauvoo from La Harpe, and the spring of 1842 when Oliver
departed so abruptly. This was the same time that Bennett was
most involved in his promiscuous activities. If Eliza were that
"innocent female," it would explain Oliver Snow's abrupt
change of allegiance and departure from Nauvoo.

Dr. Wyl Implied Bennett Seduced Eliza

The German author and newspaper correspondent, Dr. W. Wyl, spent
nearly five months in Salt Lake City in 1885 collecting material
for a book on Mormonism. When the book was published, it contained
information which he had acquired from his interviews with approximately
eighty individuals, including a number of old-time Saints from
the Nauvoo and Kirtland days.

Dr. Wyl implied that Dr. John C. Bennett had seduced Eliza Snow.
He did this by quoting from an article by Eliza, published in
the Times and Seasons of February
1, 1844 (5:430­431), entitled "Missouri," which
spoke of polluting "female virtue." Wyl then suggested
that it was "Joab," not Missouri, of whom Eliza had
written. "Joab" was the pseudonym used by Bennett for
some of his articles which were published in the Church paper
(see Times and Seasons 2 [November
15, 1840]: 222; 2 [December 1, 1840]: 238; 2 [January 1, 1841):
267).

Wyl, who called Eliza's article a psalm, wrote of Eliza and
Bennett:

Sister Snow, in her great psalm ... says of Missouri: "Thou
art a stink in the nostrils of the Goddess of Liberty.... Thou
art already associated with Herod, Nero and the bloody Inquisition—thy
name has become synonymous with oppression, cruelty, treachery
and blood." Oh, Sappho-Eliza-Roxanna-Snow-Smith-Young!
But I think I sniff General Joab in this transcendent psalm.
"Thou didst pollute the holy sanctuary of female virtue,
and barbarously trample upon the most sacred gems
of domestic felicity," is Pistol-Bennett, sure. (Dr. W. Wyl, Mormon Portraits or the
Truth About the Mormon Leaders from 1830 to 1886, 186–187)

Why did Dr. Wyl write, "I sniff" Bennett in Eliza's
psalm? Apparently because one or more old-time Saints, who had
lived in Nauvoo, had confided to him the closely guarded secret
that Eliza had been the "young lady" who was seduced
by "Pistol-Bennett, [for] sure."

By applying the name Sappho to Eliza,
Dr. Wyl was comparing her to the Greek poetess by that name (see
Encyclopedia Americana 24 [1954]:
291–292). Dr. Wyl was acquainted with the play by Austria's
most talented dramatist, Franz Grillparzer, which told the story
of Sappho, the sixth century B.C. Greek lyric poet. The drama
had received wide acclaim throughout Germany.

Eliza and Sappho had two things in common: each was the greatest
poetess in her respective society, and each was rejected by her
lover. Sappho was rejected by Phaon, a man who chose a younger
woman (ibid.; see also Frank N. Magill, Critical
Survey of Drama—Foreign Language Series, 2371). Eliza
was rejected by Dr. Bennett after he promised to marry her, for
he went to other women in Nauvoo and "overcame them also"
(Times and Seasons 3 [July 1, 1842]:
840). He rejected her even further when he divorced his wife,
Mary (see Springfield, Illinois, Sangamo
Journal [July 22, 1842], 2), and did not marry Eliza.

The LDS Church authorities continually claim that the story
of Eliza being pregnant at Nauvoo is true, and there is no reason
to doubt that she did conceive a child, but if she did, the child
was not born at Nauvoo. However, there is absolutely no foundation
for their claim that Joseph Smith was the father.

One month before he died, Joseph the Prophet proclaimed to thousands
of Saints gathered for worship on Sunday May 26, 1844, that he
was not a polygamist. He declared, "What a thing it is for
a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives,
when I can only find one" (LDS History
of the Church 6:411). Also, the fact that Emma did not
push Eliza down the Mansion House stairs (see chapter 9) is proof
that the LDS Church's "tradition" that Joseph was the
father, is false. Who then was the father? Dr. Wyl's book, from
which LDS writers have often quoted in their efforts to prove
that Joseph was a polygamist, implies that Bennett seduced Eliza—he
could have been the father.

Joseph Smith said of Dr. John C. Bennett's case, "What
I have stated I am prepared to prove, having all the documents
concerning the matter in my possession" (Times
and Seasons 3 [July 1, 1842]: 841–842).

At Joseph's death, those documents pertaining to John C. Bennett's
case, referred to by the Prophet, fell into the possession of
Brigham Young and his associates and were taken to Utah. If those
records still exist and could be examined and made public, they
would no doubt reveal that Dr. John C. Bennett was the father
of the child, which the Mormon Church claims Eliza Snow gave birth
to prematurely.

Joseph
Smith Fought Polygamy—Volume I, by Richard and
Pamela Price, can be purchased at the Restoration Bookstore or
from our online store. Articles on this subject continue
to be published in Vision
magazine, which also can be purchased at the Restoration Bookstore
or online. It is planned that this additional material will be
compiled in future volumes.

For a general understanding of both the origins
of polygamy among the Latter Day Saints and the several conspiracies
to falsely implicate Joseph in polygamy, read the article on our
Web site, "Joseph
Smith: Innocent of Polygamy," by Richard Price.

If
you have questions or comments about the content of this site, you
may call the Restoration Bookstore at 816.461.5659 or send an
e-mail
. If you have technical questions or comments about the operation
or design of this site, please contact our
webmaster
.